Commissioner’s Comments
Thanks To All For a Great 2010 Season
Well, boys, the end of the 2010 season is upon us. It always seems to arrive a little too fast for all of us who love to play but, hey, there’s always next year. We lucked out this season with predominantly warm and dry weather and only had a few games rained out, a far cry from last year’s cold and rainy weather.
Overall, everything seemed to go well, at least from what I’ve heard, and there were very few problems during the year. The One-Pitch Tournament in June was a huge success once again and many thanks go out to the coaches and players who contributed their time, money, and sweat into making this one of Lynnfield’s biggest events.
We still have two more events to go: the golf tournament and clambake on Saturday, August 21, at the Ready Meadow Golf Course at Lynnfield Center, and the end-of-the-year banquet at Polcari’s on Route 1 North in Saugus on Sunday, October 24, from 5:00-9:00 pm. Note there is NO CHARGE to attend the banquet this year, except for your individual beverage purchases. Here’s hoping for a large turnout at the banquet so we can get in one final day of fun together as a league this year. That’s what it’s all about anyway.
Congratulations to the Red Team for winning the league title for the first time with a final record of 12-3. This represented a truly amazing turnaround year for Red after hitting bottom by going 3-11-1 and finishing last in 2009. It just goes to show you that it’s not impossible to go from last to first (the team-wide use of HGH helped!). So, to those teams that struggled this year, there is hope!
A special thanks goes out to all the coaches. We had some rough spots early on as I learned a little more about them, and they about me, but we got through it and I’d like to think we communicated with each other better as the year went on. It was a pleasure working with them and I hope they all decide to return next year and take more “punishment.” Being a coach and running a team is a thankless job sometimes.
Lastly, I hope you all agree that our new league web site made a major difference in getting information out to all of us in a timely manner, and for that we need to thank John Ricciardone (a.k.a. JR). His work in initially developing the site and then updating it virtually daily with information, scores, standings, schedules, and announcements allowed the Board of Directors to communicate with the entire league as a whole in real time, and not just with the coaches. Great job, John!
As always, if you have any suggestions or comments regarding the league and our various events, please either funnel them to the Board of Directors via your coach, or just contact me directly.
So, enjoy your off season, stay in shape, keep off the steroids as best you can, and push yourself away from the desert table. If we don’t, we’ll all pay for it next year.
Thanks, again, to everyone for a very enjoyable 2010 season.
Nick Peters
Commissioner
In Memory & Appreciation
John D. DeLuca, Jr. was the founding commissioner and driving force behind the Lynnfield Men’s Over-40 Softball League for many years of its existence, as well as being a member of the Green Team. It was his vision to establish a social-based sports endeavor whereby a bunch of middle-aged guys could have the opportunity to get together outdoors one night a week during the nice weather, whack a ball around for a bit, have some fun, pretend they were athletes again, expand their friendships and network of contacts, and – as Billy Joel sang in “Piano Man” – forget about life for a while.
John’s outgoing personality, perpetual grin, infectious laugh, sense of humor, and spirited greeting of “hey, buddy!” made him a natural leader and a friend to virtually everyone he encountered in all corners of his life. This was never more evident than the outpouring of support he received after being diagnosed with leukemia, and the hundreds of people who participated in the subsequent bone marrow drive that was conducted in an attempt to save his life.
John fought a very valiant battle, but ultimately succumbed to this disease on June 21, 2008, at the age of 53.
What he started and tirelessly nurtured for all those years has been handed off to all of us to build on and take forward.
